For employees struggling to find benefits information, AI promises a solution
Companies invest millions every year in employee benefits and resources, yet most employees can’t find what they need when they need it.
That’s according to fresh research from Inclusively, a tech platform that enables organizations create personalized employee experiences. In a survey of more 1,000 people, it found a striking disconnect between benefit investments and utilization, pointing to an uncomfortable truth for HR professionals: Despite their best intentions, the current approach to resource and benefits delivery is largely failing.
“When employees struggle to access the very resources designed to support them, it creates a ripple effect that impacts everything from day-to-day productivity to long-term innovation and retention,” said Charlotte Dales, CEO of Inclusively.
While nearly half of respondents report easy access to company offerings, even a majority of them say the information they do locate fails to actually address their needs.
The time burden is significant. More than two-thirds of employees spend from 30 minutes to multiple days trying to find and access resources. And when they can’t find what they need, half go directly to HR and nearly 40% to a manager for help, sucking up time that could be spent more productively.
Norma Frahn, founder of On Demand HR Solutions, has witnessed this problem throughout her 30-year career in human resources. “Too often, companies introduce benefits during orientation and then never speak of them again,” she said. “But new hires are already overwhelmed, and they’re not likely to retain all the information.”
The Inclusively survey identified mental health support, work-life balance resources and financial benefits as the top categories employees want to access about but cannot find. That misalignment has real consequences, as 64% of employees are more likely to stay in a job if such needs are met — directly linking benefit accessibility to retention.
Technology can be instrumental in bridging the gap. Inclusively, for example, recently received its first patent for AI chat capabilities to improve workplace support technology.
Simplification is key. Dales reports that nearly half of employees end up bypassing technology when they find it too complicated and contacting HR directly. “This is not just an inconvenience — it has real consequences for well-being, productivity and retention,” she said.
Anyhow, tech is only part of the solution. “Many internal systems were built by HR professionals, in HR language, and that can impede the employee or user experience,” Frahn said. “When benefit descriptions are buried three and four clicks deep, poorly organized and written in HR-speak, most employees give up before they find what they need.”
Dales recommends centralizing resources into one easy-to-navigate system and using AI-powered support tools to guide employees to relevant benefits. “Instead of waiting until someone is overwhelmed or frustrated, companies should be using AI solutions to surface resources in the flow of work,” she said.
Again, simplicity is the solution. Inclusively’s research found that system complexity directly hinders innovation, preventing more than one-third of employees from adopting new technologies like AI.
“Benefits should be a tool to attract and retain talent, not a frustrating puzzle for employees to solve,” as Frahn puts it. “Employers that prioritize usability and ongoing support will not only increase benefit utilization but also show employees that they care.”